Donald Trump in Project 2025: The 2025 Presidential Transition Project
On Welfare & Poverty:
Waive work requirement only if unemployment over 6%
Waivers from statutory work requirements [for welfare recipients] can be approved in two instances: an unemployment rate of more than 10 percent or a lack of sufficient jobs. The Trump Administration bolstered USDA work expectations in the food stamp
program. In February 2019, FNS issued a modest regulatory change that applied only to able-bodied individuals without dependents--
Under the new rule, in order to waive the work requirement, the state's unemployment rate had to be above 6 percent for more than 24 months. The Trump reform was scheduled to go into effect, but a
D.C. district court federal judge enjoined the rule. The USDA filed an appeal in late December 2020, but the Biden Administration withdrew from defending the challenge, and the rule was never implemented.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p.299
Apr 1, 2023
On Corporations:
Respect management rights in union collective bargaining
President Trump issued three executive orders: - Executive Order 13836, encouraging agencies to renegotiate all union collective bargaining agreements to ensure consistency with the law and respect for management rights;
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Executive Order 13837, encouraging agencies to prevent union representatives from using official time preparing or pursuing grievances or from engaging in other union activity on government time; and
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Executive Order 13839, encouraging agencies both to limit labor grievances on removals from service or on challenging performance appraisals and to prioritize performance over seniority when deciding
who should be retained following reductions-in-force.
All were revoked by the Biden Administration and should be reinstated by the next Administration
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p.81-82
Apr 1, 2023
On Education:
Rescinded policy on "disparate impact" in school discipline
Before [Obama], a school would be in violation of federal law for treating black and white students differently for the same offense (disparate treatment); the Obama Administration [focused on] aggregate differences in the rates of school discipline
by race (disparate impact). The Trump Administration rescinded the Obama Administration's guidance on school discipline and corrected the Obama Administration's overreach in Title VI enforcement.- The next Administration should continue the policy
of the Trump Administration in this area and direct the department to conduct a comprehensive review of all Title VI cases to ascertain to what extent these cases include allegations of disparate impact.
- As part of this effort, the new Administration
should also direct the department and DOJ jointly to issue enforcement guidance stating that the agencies will no longer investigate Title VI cases that exclusively rest on allegations of disparate impact.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p.334-335
Apr 1, 2023
On Families & Children:
Religious exemptions, including contraception, in ObamaCare
[The next president should] restore Trump religious and moral exemptions to the contraceptive mandate. HHS [the health & Human Services cabinet department] should rescind, if finalized, the regulation titled "Coverage of Certain Preventive Services
Under the Affordable Care Act," proposed jointly by HHS, Treasury, and Labor. This rule proposes to amend Trump-era final rules regarding religious and moral exemptions and accommodations for coverage of certain preventive services under the ACA.
Preventive services include contraception, and it appears the proposed rule would change the existing regulations for religious and moral exemptions to the ACA's contraception mandate.
There is no need for further rulemaking that curtails existing exemptions and accommodations.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p.483-4
Apr 1, 2023
On Homeland Security:
Develop Sea-Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear program
Develop the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear (SLCM-N): In 2018, the Trump Administration proposed restoring the SLCM-N to help fill a growing gap in U.S. nonstrategic capabilities and improve deterrence against limited nuclear attack.
The Biden Administration canceled this program in its 2022 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR). The next President should support and accelerate funding for development of the SLCM-N with the goal of deployment by the end of the decade.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p.124
Apr 1, 2023
On Jobs:
Stricter rules for federal employee disciplinary actions
CENTRAL PERSONNEL AGENCIES: In 2018, President Trump issued Executive Order 1383916 requiring agencies to reduce the time for employees to improve performance before corrective action could be taken; to initiate disciplinary actions against poorly
performing employees more expeditiously; to reiterate that agencies are obligated to make employees improve; to reduce the time for employees to respond to allegations of poor performance; to mandate that agencies remind supervisors of expiring employee
probationary periods; to prohibit agencies from entering into settlement agreements that modify an employee's personnel record; and to reevaluate procedures for agencies to discipline supervisors who retaliate against whistleblowers.
Unfortunately, the order was overturned by the Biden Administration, so it will need to be reintroduced in 2025.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p. 73
Apr 1, 2023
On Technology:
Industries of the Future: AI , 5G, and biotech
(p.58): During the Trump and Biden Administrations, there has been a bipartisan focus on prioritizing R&D funding around the so-called Industries of the Future (IOTF). Under President Trump, IOTF priorities were artificial intelligence (AI), quantum
information science (QIS), advanced communications/5G, advanced manufacturing, and biotechnology. Under President Biden, this list has been expanded to include advanced materials, robotics, battery technology, cybersecurity, green products and clean
technology, plant genetics and agricultural technologies, nanotechnology, and semiconductor and microelectronics technologies. These priorities should be evaluated and narrowed to ensure consistency with the next Administration's priorities
(p.392): However, it would be important to guard against attempts to transform the strategy into a government-led industrial policy or, in a progressive Administration, an economy-wide climate policy.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p. 58&392
Apr 1, 2023
On Welfare & Poverty:
Close loopholes that allow food stamps to millionaires
Reform SNAP: Federal law permits states to enroll individuals in food stamps if they receive a benefit from another program, such as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. However, under an administrative option in TANF called
broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE), "benefit" is defined so broadly that it includes simply receiving distributed pamphlets and 1-800 numbers. This definition, with its low threshold to trigger a "benefit," allows individuals to bypass
eligibility limits--particularly the asset requirement (how much the applicant has in resources, such as bank accounts or property). Adopting the BBCE option has even allowed millionaires to enroll in the food stamp program.
The Trump Administration proposed to close the loophole with a rule to "increase program integrity and reduce fraud, waste, and abuse." The regulation was not finalized before the end of the Trump Administration.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p.300
Apr 1, 2023
On Immigration:
No federal grants for police in sanctuary cities
During the Trump Administration, a condition added to grants stated that an awardee had to comply with all federal law (stock language), including federal law regarding the exchange of information between federal and local authorities about an
individual's immigration status. This condition prevented law enforcement in "sanctuary cities" from receiving grant awards. While the Trump Administration suffered a series of [setbacks, the courts] upheld the authority to impose these conditions.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p.566
Apr 1, 2023
On War & Peace:
Abraham Accords end the centrality of Arab-Israeli conflict
President Trump's Abraham Accords signaled the end of the centrality of the Arab-Israeli conflict, which paralyzed U.S. approaches to the region, and focused instead on Iran as the principal threat to America from this region. During the Trump
Administration, USAID's allocations reflected the new opportunities created by the Accords and sought to strengthen regional alliances against Iran through expanded regional trade and investment and to promote genuine political stability tethered to
strong American leadership. USAID formally partnered with the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Morocco, Qatar, and Kuwait to catalyze regional partnerships in Africa. Foreign aid must advance the Abraham Accords.
Increased trade and investment between Israel and its Arab neighbors represent the most effective path toward reducing poverty, fostering the emergence of a middle class, and solidifying peace.
Source: Project 2025, by the Heritage Foundation, p.274
Apr 1, 2023
Page last updated: Jul 21, 2024